Route changes in Darlington area - 7 Feb 2011

From Monday 7th February we will be changing the routes of our X66 and 6a/b services around the Thompson Street area of Darlington due to a change in the weight limit on the bridge over the East Coast Main Line on Thompson Street. The diversions are likely to be in place for a considerable period of time (anything up to 2 years) until a replacement bridge is built. We apologise for the short notice given for these changes.

X66 Darlington to/from Teesside
The newly re-furbished coach style vehicles dedicated to this route are too heavy for the lowered weight limit of the rail bridge and will now run via North Road, Salters Lane and Whinfield Road in place of Fitzwilliam Drive and Thompson Street East. To minimise inconvenience to existing passengers in the Fitzwilliam Drive area additional stops will be added at North Road/Brougham Street, North Road/Thompson Street Post Office and Harrowgate Hill/Longfield Road then all stops will be served through to Great Burdon Riverside Drive to/from Teesside.
The existing timetable times for “The Burns” in Fitzwilliam Drive (no longer on route) will be adopted unchanged at the new timing point of Harrowgate Hill “Working Mens Club” in Salters Lane.

6a/6b Darlington to/from Whinbush
This local town service, using lower weight vehicles, will now run via Fitzwilliam Drive between Thompson Street East and North Road to restore a link to/from Darlington in place of the X66. Timings for 6a/6b points given in the current timetable are unchanged by this slight route change.